Polyurethane Wind TurbineBlades Made in China

The first polyurethane rotor blade for wind turbines in Asia wasrecently unveiled by Covestro at the Shanghai FRP Research Insti-tute. The 37.5-meter rotor blade, designed for a 1.5-M W turbine,was fabricated with a special polyurethane infusion resin fromCovestro and glass fiber mats from Chongqing Polycomp Inter-national. A vacuum pressure infusion system with continuousdegassing, developed by process technology specialist HÜBERS,was used to produce the rotor blade. Kim Klausen, global head of the Wind Energy Program atCovestro, said in a release that the new material is “proof of theperformance and cost advantages of polyurethanes over epoxyThe resin was developed in close collaboration between theCovestro Wind Competence Center in Denmark and the PolymerResearch Development Center (PRDC) of Covestro in Shanghai. Covestro researcher Dr. Chenxi Zhang presented the new devel-opment at the China Summit Forum 2016 for International WindPower Composite Materials in Zhejiang in April. He explainedto the more than 500 wind power experts the advantages of thepolyurethane system and the progress Covestro has made work-ing together with glass fiber suppliers, process engineering part-ners and rotor blade manufacturers. ￮

Low bidding levels through reverse auctions are a major concern at a time when the Indian banking sector is going through its
own challenges, potentially making borrowing more difficult in the
short-term, said Mercom. According to Reserve Bank of India data,
bank loans worth Rs. 7 lakh crore (~$103 b) were under stress as of
the end of 2015. Currently, 19 developers have bid for 2. 9 GW of solar
projects below Rs. 5 (~$0.0735) and about 1. 2 GW of these projects
have signed power purchase agreements. On a slightly positive note,
the lowest tariff of Rs. 4. 34 (~$0.0638) seems to have been an outlier
with subsequent auctions coming in at Rs. 4.66 (~$0.0685) or more.

“There is no set rule which says tariffs below Rs. 5 (~$0.0735)

cannot be financed. Some banks are seriously looking at projects
in the Rs. 4. 5-5 (~$0.0662-0.0735) tariff range, but financing depends
on sound project economics, borrower credibility, a strong balance
sheet and the developer’s ability to service debt,” said Prabhu. ￮

LATIN AMERICA

Brazil’s DistributedGenerationSector GrowingExponentially

Distributed generation connections grew by 308 percent in Brazil
in 2015, according to the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL),
Brazil’s top energy regulator.

Brazil doubled its solar targetsfor both utility-scale and distribut-ed generation in January. The 2024

target under the official 10-year
energy plan is for 7 GW of utility-scale solar and 1. 32 GW of distributed PV installations.

A new distributed generation
program in Brazil, ProGD, was
launched by Brazil’s Ministry of
Mines and Energy (MME) and is
aimed at encouraging consumers
to generate their own power from
renewable energy, with a particular emphasis on solar energy.

According to the MME, by 2030

roughly 2. 7 million Brazilian consumers could have distributed
generation installations either on
private residences, in industrial
setups or in the agricultural sector. This would be the equivalent of

23. 5 GW of clean energy capacity.

The country predicts that 18

percent of Brazilian homes will
host PV systems by 2050. These
installations would meet approximately 13 percent of the country’s
electricity demand. ￮